Taylor McCloud
|ethnicity= Caucasian |homeworld= |eras=* * * |born=October 27th, |died= |gender=Male |height=175.26 centimeters (5.9 Ft) |weight=72 Kg (160 Lbs) |skin= Tan |eyes=Blue |hair=Blonde |physical= |mental= *Slightly Dyslexic |medical= |augmentations=* * |class= |specializations= |talents= |powers= |weapons= |armors= N7 Armor |equipment= |affiliation= ( ) |service number=6709-TM-1027 |rank=*Staff Lieutenant (2180-2183) *Lieutenant Commander (2183) *Commander (2183-2186) *Captain (2186-) |occupation= *Densetsu Academy Cadet (2178-2180) *ICT Cadet (2180-2183) *N7 Operative (2183-) *Spectre (2186-) |loyalty= |conflicts=*Evagria Incident-2183 *Battle of the Citadel-2184 *The Geth War-2184-2186 *The Reaper War-2186 }} Lieutenant Commander Taylor Hand McClellan is a Human, Systems Alliance special forces officer. He is the primary protagonist of Mass Effect: Chronicles of a Silent Galaxy. Taylor is also the son of deceased Alliance hero, commander James Van McClellan. Taylor was born on October 27th, 2160. His birth was over shadowed by the death of his father, who sacrificed his own life to ensure the survival of Taylor, his wife, and the rest of the crew of the SSV Atlanta. After a brief stage of rebellion during his teenage years, Taylor began to shape up and mature, and eventually enrolled in the Densetsu Academy in 2179. He would go on to become one of the most decorated cadets in the academy's history, setting several records, and showing potential beyond belief. After graduating from Densetsu, the 20 year old Staff Lieutenant McClellan, accepted an invitation to the ICT program in Rio De Janeiro. His success followed him, and earned his N1 Status. Over the next three years, Taylor worked his way through the ICT program, eventually achieving the rank of N6, and being deployed for active duty in 2183 as Lieutenant commander on board the SSV Toronto. Biography Early Life Taylor McClellan was born on board the SSV Atlanta, October 27th, 2160, in the Far Rim, just minutes before the ship was destroyed by pirates. His father, Commander James McClellan, used the Atlanta's defenses to hold off the pirates long enough for Taylor and his mother Wendy Kinnel to escape, along with most of the vessel's crew. After the events in the Far Rim, Taylor and his mother relocated back to Earth. He grew up in a loving home with his mother, and his three brothers, Jordan Scheib, Justin Scheib, and Matthew McClellan. Despite this he still lived a life far different than most children his age, Taylor found himself traveling from system to system every few years. The reasons varied, but they all revolved around the Alliance, his family stayed in contact with his father's friends and would often go off world to spend time with them. Because of this, Taylor grew up with a considerable amount of knowledge on other planets, systems, and races. During his teenage years Taylor's social life blossomed, however, his grades and relationship with his family suffered. Jordan, Justin, and Matt, were all overachievers, and amazing students. While Taylor was in high school, all of his brothers left to join the Alliance, and he was under pressure to join as well. However, Taylor often felt that he could never achieve as much as his brothers did. This attitude was a major reason for his lack of commitment in school. This all changed after his mother finally let him listen to his father's final message. With in weeks Taylor's entire personality was changing, his grades increased, and his dedication did as well. After graduating, he declined scholarships to several prestigious universities in favor of joining the System Alliance Officer Program. In the winter of 2178, Taylor left Earth to join the Densetsu Academy, a massive station orbiting Saturn. Densetsu Academy Upon his arrival, Taylor immediately made friends with Stephen Williams, and enemies with one of the academy adviser's sons, Reece Torres. Through the first several months, Taylor excelled in his academics and tactical training, holding one of the highest GPAs in his class, and even setting several records on his tactical test. He often bested Reece, further increasing the tension between the two. In early 2179, Taylor was relocated to the ET Wing of the academy, and was placed in command of Fireteam Shutsugun. Under his command was his best friend Stephen, the infiltrator of the team, Jordan Nalty, the teams engineer, Jenine La Pierre, a biotic, and Rick Davenshire and Dontavious Paddy, soldiers. Soon after being group together, they were placed in their first combat situation, against Fireteam ShiShi, led by Abel Jennings, and were tasked with recovering intel from ShiShi's base. The mission was a success, however, Jenine, Jordan, Dontavious, and Stephen were eliminated during the exercise. Taylor went into a confused state of mind, blaming both himself and his team, and was later brought into Admiral Alex Torres's office. After a pep talk from the Admiral, Taylor began to reevaluate his feelings, learning from the situation. Over the next year, Taylor and Shutsugun excelled, become the top-ranked fireteam at the academy, and putting themselves on course to become the top team in the academy's history. Taylor also adapted and changed the way he commands, following the advice of Admiral Torres. In the spring of 2179, Taylor, along with Dontavious, Abel, Reece, and Stephen, joined the Densetsu Collegiate football program. Taylor played as a wide receiver for the team, and after summer training, was given the role of team captain, over Reece. The decision caused Reece to quit team, and develop more tension between him and Taylor. He helped lead the team to a 11-4 record. As the it became 2180, Taylor and Shutsugun found themselves at the top of the academy's all time score record. There was even talk among the cadets that Taylor was going to receive an invite to following his graduation from the academy. His rivalry with Reese peeked during a cardio test in January of 2180. The cadets were dropped onto the terraformed moon, Mimas, to attempt the trail of pain, a 25 mile run through the cold harsh terrain of the moon, who surface had been re purposed for intense weather training. At the 24.7 mile mark, Taylor and Reece were all that was left, and Reece, who was behind Taylor for the entire race, managed to hurt the other cadet. Reece tripped up Taylor twisting his ankle, and leaving him in the dirt in pain. However, Taylor managed shake off the injury, and ultimately beat Reece to win the race, in a sprint. This led to an altercation between him and Reece, and the interference of Admiral Torres, who finally put his son in his place. Reece was stripped of his command in Fireteam Kaze, and moved back to the educational wing of the academy. Taylor never had contact with Reece throughout the rest of his time at the Densetsu. On February 12th, 2181, Taylor's class would have their official graduation, and Taylor would receive the programs highest honors, and an invitation to the N7 program. He became the youngest recruit to the program since . ICT Program After a short one month to spend back at home with his family and friends, Taylor was shipped off to the Vila Militar, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He received a harsh welcome from the other N7 invitees, especially Alliance Marine Gunnery Chief Luka Silva. The others believed Taylor had no place in the N7 academy as he was too young. However, after the first several months of grueling training, Taylor began to gain their respect, aside from Silva. In their final training mission, the recruits were dropped into the mountains surrounding the Urumbamba Valley in Peru. They had no communication, no PDA equipment, and no food, their orders were to scale the mountain facing the north side of the valley, and find a way to rope across to Machu Picchu, where a shuttle would await them. The team began to make their way through the valley, then into the mountains. While in the mountains, Silva, angered by the other's new found respect in Taylor, foolishly attempted to go ahead with out his team. He nearly fell to his death after the ledge he was climbing gave out on him, however, Taylor managed to grab his hand and hoist him up at the last second. Silva, did not say a word the entire rest of the mission, and just followed. After 27 hours, the recruits finally reached Picchu. Taylor earned his N1, and was invited to return to the ICT program. He went from planet to planet, station to station over the next few years. He was exposed to EVA situations, HALO free fall exercises, underwater combat training, jet pack training, and medical training. He also learned several human, and alien languages, including French, German, Chinese, several native dialects, , and . After earning his N5, in late 2182, he and another group of ICT soldiers were on a standard orbital drop training exercise above the planet of . During the drop, Taylor's pod had a malfunction, the pod shot miles off course and crashed into one of the planet's many frozen deserts. In the crash the tracker, and the pod's communication systems were destroyed. Taylor found himself alone, with no food, and little supplies. Using the stars he began to make his way in the direction he believed he could find the Alliance base. After three days, and numerous encounters with hostile wildlife, and a terrible snowstorm, found himself standing at the gates of the alliance base. The alliance personnel had searched the area for him initially, but the snow storm halted their efforts. After his amazing survival on Sidon, Taylor was designated with the rank of N6, and finally deployed for active duty in 2183. Evagria Incident Taylor was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and thanks to the help of his old friend Stephen, was assigned to serve on board the SSV Toronto, under the command of Captain Aaron Lucious, as it's executive officer. Originally, most of the crew saw Taylor as an inexperienced officer bound to make foolish mistakes, despite Stephen's backing of him. Captain Lucious also gave Taylor a bad vibe, he didn't discuss much with Taylor, and was often quiet. As the Toronto set out to join the rest of the , Taylor soon befriended helmsman Sean Dathe, intel officer Ashley Mascian, navigator Jeffery Shaw, engineer Zach Prine, navigator Arianne Ramirez, and vehicle maintenance engineer Brandon Ames. Battle of the Citadel Geth Incursion Reaper War Description Physical Description Taylor has a very small build, standing at only 175.26 Cm, (5.9 Ft), and 72 kg (160 Lbs). He is in amazing shape, and due to his hairy complexion, has been referred to as a werewolf by fellow Alliance marines. He has blonde hair, and constantly shaves the sides of his head. It is noted he has a small head, along with an above average sized face, a crooked nose bent slightly to the left, and a strong jaw covered by brown facial hair. Originally in battle, he was outfitted with his own customized special operation armor, outfitted with extra ammo attachments, and ballistic padding. The armor is tinted steel with a forst green N7 pattern. Taylor also received extensive cyber implants in his body. These include a heavy skeletal weave, and a heavy muscle weave, enhancing his durability and athletics even more. In 2186, following the start of the Reaper invasion, Taylor received a specialized set of N7 armor designed directly for him. The Slayer Variant, is designed to be sleek, and fitting, allowing Taylor to take maximum advantage of his agility and athleticism. The armor also was upgraded with the newest alliance shielding, based off geth designs. The slayer variant offered the perfect balance between protection, durability, and movement. Abilities Taylor is well known for his paramount speed and agility, and his expectational instincts, intuition and tactical prowess. He broke several of Densetsu's records, including the records for the agility course, tactical battle course, the survival simulation, and he even held the the fifth highest GPA in the entire cadet class. His endurance is held in high regard as well, his engine never stops, and he can operate efficiently off minimal sleep. Personality Taylor is often referred to as honorable, genuine, outspoken, rational, and brave. However, he was not always like this. Growing up, Taylor had social problems with his family, and had problems in school, that plagued him for most of his teenage years. He often focused on his friends lives rather than his owns, or his families, and became a very wasteful person. He quickly grew up as he went into his junior year of high school, reestablishing a connection with his family. He witnessed his dominant, assertive side blossom as well, displaying years of maturity as well. While training in Densetsu, Taylor focused on achieving perfection, and working every day to get closer and closer to achieving his goals. A dedicated passion for doing good is another quality Taylor posses. He always puts others well being before his own, putting his own life on the line for his friends and companions. It is known he follows the rule "There's always a better" when dealing with situations, and considers every possible choice when dealing with certain issues. Despite these admirable qualities, Taylor also has his flaws like all humans. Though he won't admit it, he has a slight anger issue, and is rather impatient at times. He is very egotistical and a self acclaimed narcissist, regularly talking about himself in most conversations. In times of extreme strife, Taylor attempts to hide his feelings, and typically deny being upset. He also has a clear weak spot for Irya, to the point of being biased. Relationships Iyra Aldonia Equipment Taylor is outfitted heavily, compared to most alliance marines. Taylor's load out is centered around accuracy, and power over rate of fire. His primary weapon of choice is the M-96 Mattock, featuring an extended magazine, a precision scope, and a stability damper. He also carries an N7 armament, consisting Valiant Sniper Rifle, Piranha shotgun, and the Eagle heavy pistol, all modified for improved accuracy and power. Appearances *Mass Effect: Chronicles of a Silent Galaxy **Mass Effect: Lost Souls, Broken Minds Trivia *Taylor's personality represents pure positivity and realism. As well as the undying confidence he has in himself, and the ability to overcome. This is also combined with his many obvious flaws, occasional anger issues, denial, and his narcissism. *He is based off the author. Gallery Category:Alliance Special Forces Category:Humans Category:Soldier Category:Lost Souls, Broken Minds Category:Articles by WolfOfTheEast Category:Chronicles of a Silent Galaxy